Young Hearts
by WriterMelanie
Summary: A playful look back at the year 1900 in Hamilton. The Thatcher sisters go to the park one day and young Elizabeth's life takes an unexpected turn.
"Viola! Julie! Just one more game of hide and seek... please!" Elizabeth Thatcher jumped up and down excitedly, her tight russet curls bouncing as the large blue bow on top of her head flopped lazily to the side.

"I don't want to play hide and seek anymore," Viola huffed, "it's such a baby's game."

Julie made a face, mocking her and Elizabeth's older sister. At twelve years old, Viola was hardly grown up, although she liked to pretend she was so much older than her ten and eight year old sisters.

"Then how about jump rope," Elizabeth suggested, "or knucklebones."

Viola wrinkled her nose at the mention of knucklebones. It wasn't a very ladylike game, kneeling in the dirt and all. "How about graces?" she offered, to which Elizabeth shook her own head. Tossing a hoop back and forth with sticks? How boring.

"Perhaps Mother can take us to the park? Then I can find some friends to play knucklebones with while you play graces with Julie."

"Ooh, the park!" Julie exclaimed, clapping her hands in glee. "I love the park!"

"What is this I hear about the park?" Grace Thatcher smiled as she walked out into the garden.

"Can you take us, Mother, please?" the three girls asked all at once.

"Girls, girls!" she laughed, looking at all of them in turn. "Yes, I will take you to the park. It is a lovely day, and I believe Mrs. Kensington will be there as well with her son Charles."

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose in disgust. Not Charles. He was always acting like such a pretentious smarty-pants, using big words to try to impress her. Well, she knew what they meant and she wasn't impressed. Didn't he know she was going to college to be a teacher when she grew up? And yet he seemed to think she was going to be like every other high society girl in Hamilton, a happy housewife that sat at home and did needlepoint all day. No sir, not Elizabeth Thatcher!

"Come now, Elizabeth," Mrs. Thatcher raised her brows as she looked her daughter in the eye. "Charles is a very nice boy. Perhaps he can play with you and your friends."

"He doesn't even know how to play knucklebones," Elizabeth muttered. "I bet he can't even get past twosies."

"Then you can teach him. You always have been a good little teacher, and I'm sure he would be eager to learn."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and then ran inside, bounding up the stairs to her room. On her dresser was her sack of knucklebones and the beautiful bright red ball that came with them. She rolled the ball back and forth between her fingers, admiring its smooth red surface. Just like a Mountie's uniform. Elizabeth secretly hoped to see a Mountie at the park today. She just loved to see the beautiful horses and the handsome men in their bright red jackets. Ever since her friend Nora had fallen into the lake two weeks ago and a Mountie had jumped in to save her, Elizabeth had admired the men in red serge. They were so brave!

Looking in the mirror, Elizabeth fluffed her chestnut curls and adjusted the bow on top of her head, only to see it flop sideways again. Pursing her lips, she ran to the vanity that she shared with her sisters and opened the box of ribbons, rummaging through them until she found what she was looking for; a bright red velvet one. It wouldn't exactly match with her blue dress, so she decided to change that too, pulling it over her head before reaching into Viola's closet and grabbing a pink one with little red hearts along the hemline of the matching pinafore. It was too small for her sister to wear anymore, but it fit Elizabeth perfectly. One of the maids helped Elizabeth fasten the buttons on the back, and after tying the ribbon around her head Elizabeth pinched her cheeks and kissed her ball for luck before dancing down the stairs to her waiting mother and sisters.

"Hey! That's my dress!" Viola exclaimed.

"Not anymore," Elizabeth stuck her tongue out at her older sister and then grinned in triumph as she twirled at the bottom of the stairs. "You haven't worn it in weeks, and it obviously doesn't fit you anymore, so it's mine now."

"My goodness, do I need to take you girls dress shopping again?" Mrs. Thatcher exclaimed, helping Julie into her light blue coat and adjusting the matching bow on her head.

"Ooh, can I have a red coat?" Elizabeth begged.

Grace Thatcher laughed and smoothed an errant curl on her daughter's head before placing a hat on it to shield her daughter from the sun. "You certainly do like the color red, don't you, dear? If I didn't know any better, I'd think you wanted to journey out into the wilderness when you grow up and become a Mountie!"

"No, she just wants to marry one!" Julie announced proudly, making her sister's face turn as red as the bow on top of it.

"Julie!" she exclaimed as she started to chase her little sister around the sitting room, Julie erupting into a fit of giggles as she repeated over and over again, "Beth wants to marry a Moun-tie! Beth wants to marry a Moun-tie!"

"Come now, girls, let us go to the park before it gets too late," she opened the door and ushered her girls out into the warm spring day, opening her lace parasol to shield her porcelain skin from the midday sun.

After walking down the street for several minutes, Mrs. Thatcher and her daughters rounded a corner, into the large expanse of the park which was spread out before them. Children ran about merrily, dodging between the oak and maple trees that dotted the landscape before the land gently sloped downwards to the crystal blue waters of Lake Ontario. Several children were gathered at the waters' edge, either skipping stones or trying their luck at fishing, while others played games of hopscotch and hide and seek. Walking towards a bench underneath a sprawling cottonwood tree, Mrs. Thatcher sat down and closed her parasol, gazing out at the citizens who were strolling around the park on this fine summer day. Suddenly her face lit up as she waved demurely at a woman and her young son.

"Well, Hello, Mrs. Kensington," Mrs. Thatcher greeted her friend. "How are you this fine day?"

"I am quite well, thank you," Mrs. Kensington replied. "Look Charles, the Thatcher sisters are here!"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, a reaction that her mother noticed and corrected with a clearing of her throat and a small nudge. "Elizabeth, why don't you ask Charles if he wants to play… what's that game you brought with you?"

"Knucklebones," she answered as Charles's face lit up in reply.

"I've never played knucklebones before. I've always been intrigued by it. Perhaps you can show me?"

"Oh, all right," she relented, walking over to a small patch of dirt and sitting on the dusty surface, carefully setting her hat next to her on the cool grass as she opened the small leather pouch and dumped the contents onto the ground. Elizabeth looked enviously over her shoulder at Voila and Julie, playing graces; tossing the ring back and forth to each other as the ribbons streamed behind it. Sighing, she turned her attention back to her own game, taking the red ball out of her pocket and holding it up for Charles to see.

"So," she began, "this is a ball."

"I know what a ball is," Charles winked at her.

"Yes, well, this is how you play. You bounce the ball on the ground, and while it's in the air, you grab the knucklebones before it bounces. You start out with one, then two, and work your way up from there. Last time I played with my friends at school, we had three sets and I made it all the way up to tensies."

"Oh, I see," Charles took the ball and dropped it on the ground next to the knucklebones set. It bounced two inches off the ground, barely giving him enough time to pick up even one of them.

"No, you want to bounce it a little bit harder," Elizabeth rolled her eyes as she picked up the ball and brushed it off on her pinafore.

Just then a distant clip-clop could be heard and Elizabeth turned her head in the direction it was coming from. She knew that sound anywhere. She only hoped that…. Yes, it was! Clearing a hill in the distance was a beautiful chestnut mare, and riding it, wearing the familiar campaign hat, midnight blue breeches, and oh, there was that red serge. A Mountie! Grinning as it drew near, she absentmindedly handed the ball to Charles, watching as the Mountie pulled his horse to a stop near a young woman in a plain blue dress and two boys who were wrestling with each other under a sprawling oak tree nearby. He grinned, showing deep dimples as he kissed the woman on the cheek and then mussed the hair of the older boy before tying his mount to the tree, removing his hat and sitting next to his family.

"Elizabeth," Charles interrupted her, a mischievous twinkle in his eye, "so I bounce the ball, like this?"

Swinging his arm with all of his strength, he threw the ball hard against the ground and it bounced up four feet, arching above their heads before landing behind her and rolling away down the hill towards the lake.

"Seriously, Charles, now my ball is going to be lost!"

His smile faded then as he stood and looked down at Elizabeth in regret, "I'm sorry. I can get it for you."

Watching as the ball rolled close to where the Mountie and his family were sitting, Elizabeth's eyes lit up. "No, I can get it. Just wait here." She pushed herself to her feet, brushing some of the dust off of her hands.

Looking around, she caught a flash of red as her ball rolled towards a cherry tree. Running towards it, she paused when she saw a tall, lanky boy pick it up in his hands. He looked up as he saw her run towards him, smiling as he lifted the large campaign hat that sloped down over his eyes and held the ball up for her to see.

"Is this yours?" he called out as she drew closer, grinning as he flashed his dimples and stood underneath the tree. However; he had not judged the distance between his head and the lowest branch, until it connected, sending a spray of cherry blossoms cascading downward as he fell to the ground.

Elizabeth giggled as the petals fluttered to the ground around her. Looking down at the boy, she stepped forward, kneeling down next to him and lifting the rim of the hat and so he could see.

"Are you all right?" she asked, tilting her head sideways.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he removed the hat and rubbed his head, brushing the cowlick of dark brown hair out of his blue eyes. He looked up and smiled at the sight before him. There, kneeling next to him was a girl in a dusty pink dress with a bright red bow on top of her head, her chestnut curls covered with cherry blossom petals. He wasn't particularly keen on getting involved with girls, having decided at a young age that he was going to devote his life to becoming a Mountie like his father. And Mounties didn't have wives. Well, except for his Pa. However; seeing this girl smiling at him made his breath catch in his throat. She sure was pretty, like one of the fairies in the books his mother had read to him at night when he was younger.

"Your Pa, he's that Mountie over there, isn't he?" the girl asked, shaking him from his reverie.

"Yep," he replied, "he lets me wear his hat sometimes. Although I don't think he'll let me wear it anymore, now that I've dented it."

"Here, let me take a look," Elizabeth held out her hand, and the boy cautiously put the hat in it.

Elizabeth flipped the hat over in her hands. It sure was heavier than she thought it would be. Reaching inside, she pushed gently on the curve at the bottom, running her fingers delicately along the inner edge until the dent popped out.

"Wow… thanks!" the boy said, taking the hat out of her hands and examining it, "My brother sure will be jealous. He dented it a month ago and had to do triple chores for a whole week!"

"Oh my," Elizabeth exclaimed. "Well, you are very welcome then…"

"Jack," the boy held out his hand, "Jack Thornton."

"Elizabeth," she replied, "But you can call me Beth." She omitted her last name, knowing fully how people reacted when she told them she was a Thatcher. For some reason she didn't want this boy to know that fact about her. He was kind of… cute. She put her hand in his and shook it, pausing a moment as a blush colored her cheeks when he smiled at her, his eyes sparkling as he looked down at her hand.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she blinked and pulled her hand away, "I think I got some dust on your hand."

He looked at his hand and smiled, flashing his dimples and bringing that blush back to her fair complexion. "No, no dust. I do feel cheated now though."

Elizabeth grinned in reply, and then gestured over to Charles who was peering in her direction intently, wondering who that boy was that Beth was sitting next to under the cherry tree. "I was just playing knucklebones over there and… my ball…"

"Oh yes, your ball," Jack wiped it on his shirt and held it out to her.

"Thank you," she took the ball from him, shining it on her pinafore and slipping it into her pocket. "Would you like to come over and play?"

Jack looked over his shoulder to see his mother and brother motioning for him to return. His father had just mounted his horse and was waiting patiently for the crucial part of his uniform. "Sorry, I have to go back by my Pa. He needs his hat back before he continues his rounds."

"Oh, okay," Elizabeth tried to hide her disappointment. "Maybe I'll see you again sometime."

"Perhaps," he said as he turned the hat over in his hands and rose, more carefully this time. He then held out a hand to help Elizabeth to her feet. "My family is moving west in a few days, to my Pa's new posting, but I can try to persuade my mother to bring my brother Tom and I back here tomorrow."

"I'd like that," Elizabeth smiled, taking his hand and standing.

Jack turned and walked away, but after a few steps, he turned back and chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck nervously as he took a few tentative steps back towards her. "Oh, and Beth, you might want to shake those flowers out of your hair. Although they do make you look… pretty." He leaned forward and placed a quick peck on her cheek. A rush of crimson filled his face then as he grinned and quickly turned to run back towards his waiting family.

Elizabeth felt the blush in her own cheeks deepen as she gently touched her cheek, and then reached up to the top of her head where she felt several cherry blossoms. Pinching one of them gently in her fingers, she brought it to her nose and inhaled deeply, then placed the flower in her pocket before shaking her head to dislodge the others. They cascaded down to the ground around her and she giggled in delight as she watched Jack run away.

Sighing, Elizabeth turned back towards her sisters, who were now standing by Mother. She looked over where Charles had been waiting, but he was gone. Perhaps he had seen Jack kiss her. Well, good riddance. Maybe now he would leave her alone. Smiling, she skipped back towards her family, her curls bouncing with every step.

"Who was that?" Julie asked, her eyes wide.

"His name is Jack. Jack Thornton," she replied dreamily as she gazed back in his direction and he shyly waved to her before walking away down the lane with his family.

 _And I'm going to marry him one day._


End file.
